flower crab spiders

I was on a bit of vacationing way out (well, it's a long day's drive) in Utah at the edge of the Kolob Canyons when I noticed the oddest thing. It was not the position of the pollinator in front of a flower that got my attention, but the way it just sort of hung there connected to nothing and absolutely still. Physics was not being obeyed. I looked closer, and there was this ghostly apparition. White mandibles gripped the bee, holding it in place. They were attached to a white spider that faded nearly entirely into the faintly lavender flower. Just like a watering hole, flowers are dangerous. At least they are in Utah. (First observation.)

I didn't notice the next spider, but it's there, and it was much closer to home. Tucked underneath a gumplant of some sort on Nicholas Flat.

I did notice the next. It didn't even have prey as it hid under a blue dick on the Ventura River Preserve.

It was the next two, shortly after on my way back down from Redrock Mountain that really grabbed my attention. They were also tucked under blue dicks and they both had themselves some prey. (The first and the second.)

They keep popping up, although I have yet to see one on a goldenrod as it is said to commonly occupy and most of them have been white. This one waiting in an azalea is particularly menacing. And this pair is particularly interesting. It says they can change color to yellow (or to white) in about a week if they find themselves on the wrong color flower.

Posted on September 14, 2021 02:58 AM by valhikes